Clash’s cover star has come a long way since his ‘Blue Slide Park’ commercial breakthrough a couple of years back. He’s a little older and a lot wiser as he takes album two, ‘Watching Movies With The Sound Off’ (Clash review), into the spotlight. “I wasn’t ready for all that,” he tells us of his explosion into the mainstream. “Now I’m more of a veteran at keeping my mental self happy… Now I’m good. I feel good.”

Once Zoo Kid, now King Krule, young south-Londoner Archy Marshall has been entertaining those with their ears tuned to the more creative side of British pop for some years – and he’s still in his late teens. Clash meets Marshall as he prepares for the release of the debut King Krule album, ‘6 Feet Beneath The Moon’ (Clash review). “I made my first song when I was 11,” he tells Clash. A prodigious talent, indeed.

The experimental duo of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power has been ‘away’ a while – their second LP, ‘Tarot Sport’, came out way back in 2009. But now, armed with the phenomenal ‘Slow Focus’ (Clash review), the pair is back, and in impressive style. Wholly individualistic of sound, the Buttons’ new campaign finds them on career-high form. “We never pull back from any extremes,” says Power. And it only takes a cursory listen to the band’s material to hear the evidence. (Read an edit of this feature online here)

The head-turning Australian artist opens up to Clash – about his debut album ‘Embracism’ (Clash review), and the art of performance that means so very much to him. “The character on stage, I don’t really know him that well. He’s unpredictable, even for me. It’s warped.” Warped, perhaps, but something close to genius, certainly. (Read an edit of this feature online here)

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Also featured in issue 87 of Clash magazine, covering music, film and fashion…

…and many more, alongside our usual array of regulars – with an In The Works look at the forthcoming Actress album, a Personality Clash between Idris Elba and Akala, and a Swansong from Andrew Weatherall – reviews, news and live coverage.